From Backyard Tanks to National Deliveries: My Journey Founding Australia’s First Online Aquarium Store. By Alan Sambell

If you’d told me in 2005 that I’d help change how Australians buy aquarium fish, I probably would have laughed - especially because the idea itself was born around a campfire at a mate’s bucks’ night.

Someone threw out a business idea, then another, and when it was my turn, I said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if you could jump on the internet, order any fish you want, and have it delivered to your house?” At the time, it sounded farfetched. Online shopping was still new, and live fish delivery seemed borderline ridiculous. But the idea stuck.

I grew up on an ornamental fish farm. Breeding, caring for, and shipping fish wasn’t new to me, it was my childhood. That put me in a unique position to explore whether the idea could work. So, I did what most founders do at the start; I experimented, simulating fish shipments, testing bags, oxygen levels, and packaging options. Keeping fish alive was easy; keeping bags from leaking during transit was the real challenge.

Fish had been shipped globally for decades in large polystyrene boxes, but that wasn’t something a home customer wanted turning up on their doorstep. The question was whether we could make professional fish transport practical, compact, and trustworthy for everyday 

From Campfire Idea to Real Startup

Once we knew fish could survive transit safely, the next step was building a website. That part happened faster than expected. A friend, soon to become my business partner, had just lost his IT job and quietly started building the site on his own. I didn’t even realise how far along he was until he showed me the finished product.

That was the tipping point. It wasn’t just an idea anymore, it was a business.

Funding in the early days was simple and scrappy. Australia Post sold prepaid satchels back then, about $10 each, and you had to buy at least 10 at a time. Fish were packed in oxygenfilled bags, slid into shorter cuts of PVC stormwater pipe so they couldn’t be crushed, and then placed into the satchels. Between bags, pipe, and tape, every shipment felt like a DIY experiment.

It worked - until it didn’t.

Early Challenges and Growing Pains

Courier companies soon started raising concerns. Small bags of liquid inside PVC pipes on planes understandably set off concerns. Summer heat was also becoming a serious issue.

The breakthrough came when I discovered a small polystyrene box used for medical transport at a nearby factory. It was insulated, compact, and professional. Overnight, Livefish went from looking like a backyard operation to a legitimate business.

That opened the door to scaling.

We quickly realised we were outselling what the farm could produce, so we partnered with wholesalers and plant suppliers. Once we had a full range of fish and plants, shipped properly, safely, and consistently, we could confidently call ourselves Australia’s first, and therefore largest, online aquarium store.

Trust, Expectations, and the Reality of Early eCommerce

Running an online business back then was nothing like it is today. Customers couldn’t track orders. Couriers weren’t optimised for home delivery. Someone might place an order, hear nothing for days, then wait two more days for delivery.

Trust was everything.

Customers also couldn’t see the fish they were buying. Photos help, but anyone who’s tried to photograph a fish knows how hard it is to capture colour, size, and movement accurately. Meeting expectations became one of our biggest challenges, and priorities.

When something went wrong, we fixed it. Quickly. Whether it was livestock or dry goods like pumps or filters, we only worked with suppliers who would stand behind their products. That commitment to service became our real point of difference, not price.

Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

Scaling was easily the toughest lesson. I had very little understanding of taxes, margins, or profitability when things started growing quickly. This was a hobby turning into a serious operation, and I learned as I went, sometimes the hard way.

I also waited too long to delegate. Trying to do everything yourself works when you’re small, but it catches up with you. Burnout is real.

If I could go back, I’d still do it all again, but I’d educate myself on business earlier.

Looking Ahead

My hope for Livefish has always been bigger than sales. We invested heavily in detailed product and species information so the site could double as a trusted reference. Helping someone fix a tank problem instead of selling them more fish felt like the right thing to do, for the customer and the hobby.

I was never driven by aggressive marketing. I believed one happy customer brings two more, while a disappointed one tells ten people. Growing slowly but maintaining quality always mattered more to me.

That philosophy built Livefish - one delivery, one tank, one happy aquarist at a time.